At the beginning of “Job” which is currently running at the Helen Hayes Theater, Jane (a frenetic yet oddly focused Sydney Lemmon) enters Lloyd’s (a seemingly focused yet not fully at ease Peter Friedman) office holding a gun, confident she knows “who he is.” Although she then briefly experiences some temporary doubt about her well-researched hypothesis, she is willing to put the gun away but remains resilient in her belief that Lloyd is who she thinks he is. The gun stays in Jane’s bag; however, it is not evident the gun will remain there throughout the session.

Ostensibly Jane makes an appointment with therapist Lloyd to be able to return to her job in user care at Google’s campus after experiencing a full-blown panic attack while at work. She needs Lloyd’s confirmation that she is “fit” to return to her job. That’s Lloyd’s job for the moment. It is not clear whether Jane is in the therapist’s chair analyzing the psychologist Lloyd or whether Lloyd is in control of the session as Jane’s new therapist. This “wonderment,” this tension drives the powerful movement forward in Max Wolf Friedlich’s psychological drama: a cat-and-mouse game at its best.

Approaching Max Wolf Friedlich’s script is an exercise in navigating the paths of foreshadowing the playwright leads the reader/audience member down (and back). Is Lloyd engaged in asking questions to help Jane or is he trying to discover why Jane is really in his office? At times Lloyd has the upper hand as he exploits Jane’s panic attacks and tries to zero in on Jane’s “flawed” family and social history. Alternately, Jane uses those familiar panic attacks to regain her position of strength in the life-or-death exchange with her adversary.

Thanks to Scott Penner’s “wall less” scenic design, Mextly Couzin’s “spasmodic” lighting design, Cody Spencer’s techno-urban sound design, and Devonté Hynes’s premonitory original music, the audience gradually becomes aware of the synaptic transmissions that are sorting out “good from bad,” goodness from evil,” and the very possibility of the existence of God.

Jane continues to spar with Lloyd, determined to confront him with what she believes he has done. Lloyd continues to deflect Jane’s assumptions by claiming he wants nothing more than to help her by getting to know her better. But Jane continues to peel the layers off Lloyd’s defenses. She gets Lloyd to disclose information about his address, his family, and his familiarity with the internet and social media. Finally, Lloyd is ready to end the session. Peter Friedman does a remarkable job portraying a possible miscreant who has finally been cornered. And Sydney Lemmon excels at portraying the “cat” who has cornered the prey. Both actors have created authentic and believable characters who manage to teeter on the cusp of truth without flinching or backing down.

Lloyd wants to end the session; however, Jane continues to attack him psychologically . . . ultimately describing in detail what she does at her job. It becomes clear that Jane believes has discovered something about Lloyd while at work, something disturbing, and she visited Lloyd to confirm that he might the person she saw on a video at home after her panic attack at work. Jane confronts Lloyd, “They were real. Seeing them I imagined everything they didn’t film, all the harm they’d caused. But yeah, I couldn’t fucking do anything. I wasn’t strong enough to do anything. A few months ago, after I was put on leave, I found a guy who would make his children have sex . . .”

Jane’s monologue is the climax of the play. Lloyd realizes that Jane assumes she has discovered/confirmed who he is. “People like him, they aren’t sick – there’s nothing “wrong” with them,” concludes Jane. “They’re evil. It’s the evil every God warns about. They come from nature. You can’t escape them – you have to defeat them. I had to get back to work – I had to use our tech to stop his growth.”

Could this be Lloyd? Could a therapist dedicated to helping people commit such a heinous crime? Jane is convinced. Lloyd isn’t ready to confess. In the final scene, Jane raises her gun again as Lloyd lunges forward at her. Blackout.